Parking brake/Hill hold question

[Exonian]

I’m far far from an expert on US spec cars but ones I’ve seen tend to have leather interiors and sunroofs so maybe they come in various trim levels as opposed to Euro spec cars where you go for individual options.
The different light units are probably legislation the same as those orange reflector thingies.

Anyway, as said, I’ve no idea unfortunately but it’d be interesting to see if it could be activated via OBD dongle.
I saw a vid pop up recently of a retrofit of an 8.5 GTI steering wheel centre complete with proper buttons into a mk8 R with haptic pads so retrofits are still a thing it seems!

[fredgroves]

Aha!

[Exonian]

Good find 
And blimey.

[artie]

Is your Yankee Golf manual or DSG?

DSG which I really like is programmed so well in both Sport and D mode
Love the torque of the engine no turbo lag at all sweet ride all around

[artie]

Actually don't think it's odd at all. US VW's have always seemed lowly spec'd to me compared to what we're used to over here. E.g. the standard infotainment screen in the MK8 was a tiny-screened thing with actual physical knobs! That screen wasn't in any Golf on this side of the water. Similarly US Golfs tend to get lower spec lights (e.g. no rear LEDs), smaller lower. spec wheels, etc. I vaguely recall that the MK7 still had a manual lever handbrake when it was always an auto handbrake here.

It seems very odd that in the land across the pond from Europe where VW usually load up the cars with spec and sell them much more cheaply (minus local taxes and weird dealer mark ups) that they’d remove something that was engineered into the car as sold in most markets. There must be a legal reason why the hill hold isn’t specified for the North American market, you have big hills and even bigger mountains that will require the vehicle to be controlled when manoeuvring without relying on a little toggle switch handbrake that would surely just be begging for a litigious incident. I mean in a country that demands warnings on coffee cups stating the obvious then a tiny handbrake and no electronic failsafe is just asking for it.

Can I ask what buttons you have by the handbrake toggle Artie?
I wonder if the hill hold can be activated via VCDS/OBD11 as it’s pretty unlikely there are major parts differences if a traditional manual handbrake isn’t fitted.

Just the parking brake switch my 2018 Audi A5SB had the same thing lift up to actuate and touch throttle and drive away smooth as silk probably because it was Quattro but the GTI being FWD you get the squat as the front pulls then the rear calipers release I’m going to ask dealer if there can be any adjustments to this probably not

[artie]

Is your Yankee Golf manual or DSG?

DSG